An embodiment of the invention is directed to the control and management of metered vending output devices with cashless payment transaction capability.
A vending control system includes components that perform different tasks in operating equipment that allows a consumer to purchase goods or services via cashless transactions. Such locations are typically unmanned, such as a business center in a hotel guest room. A typical business center offers the use of output device vending that allow Internet access, copying, faxing as well as in some cases printing, from a personal computer or other portable electronic computing and communication device. Modifications have been made to conventional copiers and printers, to enable the vending control system to “meter” the output that has been processed, e.g. count the number of copied or printed pages. The unmanned center in a hotel guest room is typically credit/debit card activated, in that the user first swipes a magnetic stripped credit card through a card reader at the site. The system then dials a telephone number of a credit card clearing house and then requests an authorization (based on the read credit card information and an initial dollar amount). An authorization message and/or code are then received, and the vending control system in response enables the copier or printer. Equipment at the hotel guest room monitors the use of the copier or printer, and counts the number of pages that are dispensed by counting the number of pulses in a signal generated by the copier or printer. At the end of the transaction, the user signals to the equipment that she is finished and in response a total purchase amount is calculated (based on the amount of output that has been metered) and printed on a receipt at the hotel room. At the end of a given time period, a batch of such transactions are collected and sent to a credit card transaction processing firm that initiates the individual transactions with their respective credit card issuers, to settle the transactions on behalf of the merchant (here an owner or administrator of the vending control system).